Five-pointed stars on houses?

[Leslie]

Does anyone know the meaning of (presumably plastic) 5-pointed stars mounted on the fronts of houses, usually next to the doors? They appear to be plastic and I've seen them in various colors. White is common. There is only one per house. They have a radius of about one foot. I saw a lot of them when we traveled through KY, TN, NC and into Georgia about 2 weeks ago. There are a few of them here in the Chicago suburban area. I'm aware that the five-pointed star is a symbol of witchcraft and wonder if the inhabitants of these houses are proclaiming that.

 

[JBaldwin]

While I don't know what those stars mean today, when I was a child living in Illinois, a star in someone's window meant that it was a "safehouse". They were homes along the routes students walked on the way to school, and if there was a problem going back and forth to school, a child could run to that house for safety. I would be very surprised if in our day and age, the star meant it was a safehouse.

 

[SolaScriptura]

Just about every star is a "5 pointed star."

I just assumed that folks who put up a star on their doorway were declaring that they are from Texas... (The "Lone Star State")

 

[Montanablue]

I was visiting a friend about a year ago in Tennessee and noticed this. I asked her if she knew what they meant, and she thought they were just for decoration. Since then, I've seen them sold at Pier 1 and Pottery Barn. So perhaps its just an in vogue decoration? I feel like people often use symbols for aesthetic purposes even if they're unaware of their original meaning.

 

[Oecolampadius]

I believe they're just for decoration, no need to associate them with witchcraft or anything like that. I almost bought one that was made of bronze metal for our house when I was at a decor shop, but I decided against it because it reminds me of Christmas and I don't want people to think that we're celebrating Christmas throughout the year.

 

[LawrenceU]

They are trying to make their house look old. Seriously. The craze seems to have started as a result of some architects mimicking the stars that are used on the ends of bracing bars in old masonry buildings (They keep the walls from blowing out.) If you think you've probably seen them. I had to put about twelve of those on a brand new house complete with fake bolt and nut. If it had been a masonry house it would have looked better.

 

[Kevin]

Decoration.

Here the star is a popular sign that the person is Acadian, esp. if they display it with the blu/blanc/rouge.

It is the sign of the virgin Mary, the patron saint of L'Acadie.

 

[Whitefield]

It is for decoration and is the modern version of the "lawn jockey" and "garden gnome".